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Sunday, 29 January 2017

Review - 'Arrow', S05E10 - 'Who Are You?'

The surprise reappearance of Laurel
Lance, at the end of the previous episode, had been a pretty great
way to bring the series to its mid-season break. Not only was it just
an entertaining cliff-hanger – but, with a handful of plausible
explanations for how she
could suddenly come back, it had also been the source of some
entertaining speculation, for me.

My own
idea, that Laurel's reappearance (along with Leonard Snart's, on
Legends of Tomorrow)
could be somehow be connected to Savitar as part of another surprise
cross-over, ultimately proved to be entirely wrong, of course –
but, honestly, I'm not even a little disappointed. After all, as the
fifth season's tenth episode quickly revealed, it was still all
based on a connection to broader continuity – just not in the that
I had initially thought it would be.

Picking
up only moments after the previous episode came to an end, the
episode wastes no time in addressing this central mystery. The
most amusing thing about the incredibly outlandish tale that Laurel
wove for Oliver was that, given what we understand about the
increasingly strange world that these characters live in, it actually
came across as almost plausible. The idea that Laurel's sister would
be willing and able to use the Waverider to alter the past, and bring
her sister back, sounds as though it would be in character – apart
from the fact that any viewer who also watched Legends of Tomorrow
would know that Sara had already come to the conclusion that she
can't attempt to change the past, for her own benefit.

So,
for anyone who is paying attention, it should be obvious right from
the start that there is something very wrong with Laurel's story –
and, to the writer's credit, they seem ready and willing to
acknowledge this fact. With Felicity instantly suspicious of this
apparent stroke of good fortune, it is not long until the truth is
uncovered – that this isn't actually the Laurel Lance who was
murdered by Damian Darhk but is, instead, the villainous double who
we previously met on an episode of The Flash.

Busted
out of her cell in Central City, she had been brought to Star City to
pose as her deceased double as a part of Prometheus's increasingly
baffling long-term plan to torture Oliver Queen. Honestly, at this
point I prefer not to dwell too much on Prometheus, and whatever he
might have planned – his involvement in the season has just started
to feel increasingly silly (and, not in the good way that the CW's
other DC shows occasionally strive for). How did he even know about
Laurel's villainous double, for example? And, how was he able to
break her out of Star Labs so easily? More importantly, why did he
think she would actually be able to maintain this ruse for any length
of time? Much like many of his past plans, none of it really seems to
hold up under any real scrutiny – and, as a result, Prometheus
continues with his trend of being the most disappointing element of
this season.

At the
same time, though, Prometheus's ridiculous plan does provide Katie
Cassidy with the opportunity to take on a villainous role once more –
and, this is definitely a positive, for the episode as a whole. While
I never actively disliked the version of Laurel Lance that Katie
Cassidy had portrayed over the first few seasons of Arrow,
and I even enjoyed elements of her gradual transformation into a
costumed hero, I do have to admit that she often feel underutilised
and mishandled. In only two appearance, though, she had managed to
turn Black Siren into a compelling, and genuinely effective, villain
– one who I was very eager to see more of when she first appeared
on The Flash. So,
while the circumstances of how she made her way here might not have
been overly compelling, I am definitely glad that we got to see more
of her.

It was
also interesting to observe the way in which her presence pushed
Felicity into a more proactive role. With her recent tragedies still
clearly weighing on her, Felicity was almost instantly distrustful of
this apparent miracle. As a result, it was Felicity who was the main
driving force behind the team's pursuit of this new foe – even
butting heads with Oliver, who preferred to believe that she might
not be wholly irredeemable. While I'm not convinced that Felicity was
in the right, here (despite the writers clearly seeming to want me to
come to that conclusion), I can admit that her behaviour did, at
least, feel justified.

While
all of this was going on, we also had Diggle, back in prison after
being caught at the end of the previous episode, coming to realise
that his life might be in danger when General Walker (Garry Chalk),
the one who had attempted to frame him, arrived to take him into
military custody. While I normally wouldn't be too enthusiastic about
a sub-plot that feels so disconnected from the action taking place,
elsewhere, I do have to admit that, at least in this case, things
seems to be heading in a very interesting direction for John Diggle.
It also doesn't hurt that, in this case, Diggle has also been paired
up with Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) who, as a favour to Oliver, has
agreed to represent him. In his time on-screen, Chase has proved to
be a fascinating character – and, Josh Segarra and David Ramsey
play well off of each other, in their scenes together.

Unfortunately,
it seems that, as it has so often in the past, this season's
'flash-back' sub-plot has also ground to a halt – although, it does
manage to end on a reasonably strong note. After spending an evening
being severely beaten by Russian thugs, Oliver is suddenly, and
surprisingly, rescued by a mysterious woman who clearly has plans of
her own. Given that the series, as a whole, has already been accused
of borrowing a little too much from Batman, I do have to admit that
I'm not entirely sure what to make of the writers' decision to bring
in Talia al Ghul – but, I am definitely interesting is seeing what
the series does with the character.